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An Experiment 

In Child Study 



State of Maine 

Educational 

Department 



I'^oz^j 



K\3 



This pamphlet will be sent free on application to W. W. Stetson, State 
Superintendent of Public Schools, Augusta, Maine. 



S£P81 ,w 

D. 0/ a 



J 



AN EXPERIMENT IN CHILD STUDY. 



A blank for the study of children was prepared by the Depart- 
ment and sent to the teachers and school officials early in the 
school year of 1902, with the following 

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS. 

You are requested to make a careful study of each of your 
pupils in some of the particulars indicated below. Do not judge 
them by single facts. Strive to make your estimate as accurate 
as sympathetic study can render it. Having satisfied yourself 
of the justice of your decisions, place X's after the words that 
express your judgments. 

It is hoped that a faithful compliance with this request will 
enable you to understand your pupils better and, from this 
knowledge, you will be prepared to strengthen their weak places 
and develop those powers that give promise of proficiency in 
some worthy work. 

The motives that, influence, the ideals that inspire and the 
history that reveals the child's inheritance of fibre, aptitudes and 
tendencies should be so carefully studied that the knowledge thus 
gained will materially modify methods of instruction and systems 
of management. To aid in deciding what and how much the 
child ought to do when the best opportunities are offered him and 
he is skillfully directed in doing his best, the outlines given below 
have been prepared. The study of the child should have for its 
object the increase of the teacher's usefulness to the pupil and 
should enable her to put him in the way to develop a vigorous 
body, a well balanced intellect, intelligent morals and a will that 
insures self-control. To do this she must know his history and 
possessions, physically, mentally and morally. Then she is pre- 
pared to help him to make good his deficiencies and train to a 
helpful force his gifts and, by this nurture, assist him to do in the 
best way the work Nature has determined he can do best. 

It may be necessary to state that the teacher is not expected 
to make a study of the child in many of the particulars given 



below that are matters of opinion. She is asked to report on all 
the items that are matters of fact. A child's ability to express 
his thought, or the thought of another in his own words, is a sub- 
ject for study. The studies pursued by a child are matters of 
fact and require no investigation on the part of the teacher. 

That each teacher may study the child from the side in which 
she is best fitted to pursue her investigations, a large number of 
topics are printed on the blanks. 

The thought, feeling and action of a person are so closely 
related that you cannot study one of these forms of activity with- 
out learning much of the others. To know a child thoroughly 
as to his abilities, habits, manners or motives is to know some- 
thing worth while as to each of the others. Each is a mirror in 
which the whole is more or less faithfully revealed. 

The greatest benefit that can result from this work is that it 
must induce the teacher to become interested in her pupils as 
individuals. Who they are, what they are, whence they came, 
whither they are going, what they want to do, what they can 
do, the place they are to fill in the world and the training they 
need to fill this place, are among the questions that will press 
for answers. Generalizations are valuable, but, to be authorita- 
tive, they must be based on carefully considered details. 

Know the child and you will come to know children. Love 
the child and you will grow to love children. Teachers should 
think less about their schools and more about the boy or girl. 
The mass will take care of itself if the individual is properly 
cared for. One of the great evils of the public school is found 
in the fact that the child has ceased to be an object of interest — • 
he is lost in the mass ; he no longer stands for anything ; he has 
ceased to be an object of solicitude and the result is that he feels 
minimized, dwarfed, swamped. He loses his sense of individ- 
uality and responsibility. He cannot go alone because he has 
never gone or been considered alone. He waits to be led because 
he has always been in leading strings. He rushes when the 
multitude makes a break because he has always been held in 
place and put in motion by others. This study will help to get 
us back to the individual ; to a proper recognition of the import- 
ance of personality. 

To make these estimates of the children of the greatest value 
they must be based on a study of the child in the home, on the 



street, in public assemblies, on the playground and in the school- 
room. He must be studied when he is under restraint and when 
he is free to follow his whims, fancies, impulses and the com- 
mands of his will. These studies should include his work and 
his play ; when he acts consciously and when he is unconscious of 
what he does ; when actuated by worthy and when by unworthy 
motives; when the act is spontaneous and when he plays 
a role ; when he rules and when he is ruled ; when he is under 
surveillance and when he is free to show all he is; when he is 
' excited by passion or enthusiasm and when he is in his normal 
condition ; when the saint holds the reins and when the sinner 
does the driving. The teacher must distinguish between the 
working off of an excess of nervous force and willfulness. This 
study will help her to discover when he goes wrong because of 
his talents and when because of his deficiencies; when he acts 
from fear or timidity and when from insolence. This knowl- 
edge will aid her in deciding what remedies are needed and 
when and how to apply them. When she has learned why a boy 
is refractory she is in the best position to help him to reform. 
When she knows why a boy is good she has the clearest and best 
ideas as to how to keep him interested in being the best within 
his power. 

Fortunately the intelligent study of one child helps wonder- 
fully in the study of all children. It is hardly less than aston- 
ishing how much of an expert one becomes in a short time if 
thought is put into the work. Things that were before unnoticed 
will stand out in clear relief; facts that have been before our 
eyes for years and not seen, will press themselves upon our 
attention. The child becomes an object of interest, a subject for 
study. He increases in importance. He has a new value. He 
becomes almost a fascination in our eagerness to know him. 

But this work must be done with infinite patience, sympathy 
and love for the child studied. The old relation of master and 
subject must cease. The better relation of companions must 
take its place. When this work is well done, schoolrooms will 
no longer be places where children are herded, but will be centers 
of growth and blessing. 

The thoughtful teacher will come to realize that it is the 
largest part of her work to build, not to repress. She will begin 
to appreciate the fact that she must discover power, stimulate 
action and direct them in risfht lines. 



To help in this better way of helping the boys and girls, the 
outlines given below are placed in the hands of the teachers of 
the State and they are urged to use them for the purposes sug- 
gested in the preceding paragraphs. 



THE RETURNS. 

Replies have been received from one hundred seventy-one 
teachers giving the detailed data requested in the blank. 
Twenty-five of the teachers sending replies are men and one 
hundred forty-six are women. 

The first series of questions aimed to ascertain prevailing 
interests of teachers in the subjects usually taught in the common 
schools. These results have the value and the weakness of 
personal reminiscences, giving, as they do, interests seen through 
the distance of years and translated into terms of later experi- 
ence and larger life. "In their real work with children, teachers 
probably draw more upon their memories, for an interpretation 
of the acts of the children under their charge, than from any 
other source of professional equipment. Memory is sometimes 
treacherous and data sometimes colored by personal prejudices. 
Nevertheless, the teacher will always be limited more or less by 
the recollections of her own childhood." 

Interest in school studies were sought along these lines : 

1. Your favorite study when a pupil ; 

2. Your favorite study now ; 

3. The study you prefer to teach. 

Answers to these questions have been collected and the results 
expressed in percentages in the following table : 



I. FAVORITE STUDY WHEN A 
Studies. 

1. Mathematics (general) 

(a) Arithmetic 

(b) Algebra 

2. Language studies: 

(a) Reading and literature 

(b) Grammar and composition 

(c) Spelling 

3. History 

4. Geography 

5. Sciences and Nature study 



CHILD. 






Men- 


-% 


Women- 


-% 


24 




22 




16 




27 




4 




3 




4 




10 




4 




12 









2 




24 




14 




8 




10 





II. FAVORITE STUDY NOW. 

Men — % Women — % 

1. Mathematics (general) 30 

(a) Arithmetic 20 8 

(b) Algebra 8 1 

2. Language studies: 

(a) Reading and literature 12 15 

(b) Grammar and composition 4 19 

(c) Spelling 

3. History 12 9 

44 Geography 1 

G. Sciences and Nature study 16 9 

6. Music 5 

7. Foreign languages 3 

S. Book-keeping 8 3 



III. TEACHING PREFERENCE. 

1. Mathematics (general) 28 25 

(a) Arithmetic 24 19 

2. Language studies: 

(a) Reading and literature 8 10 

(b) Grammar and composition 4 7 

3. History 4 12 

4. Geography 24 6 

.5. Sciences and Nature study 4 4 

6. Music and drawing 2 4 

There were scattering subjects in each of the three tables, but 
the above tabulation gives in the main the reminiscent interests 
in school studies of the one hundred and seventy-one teachers. 
One is struck at the outset by the high regard in which the study 
of mathematics is held and the returns are not in accord with 
similar studies made by Professor Smith in Michigan, Professor 
Chabot in PVance and Miss Kate Stevens in England. A part 
of the mathematical preference is doubtless due to the emphasis 
placed on the study throughout the elementary school course. 

The language studies — reading, literature, spelling, composi- 
tion and grammar — are mentioned more often by the women 
teachers, in all three of the tables. Spelling is given in the 
first table only and by women. 

History has a large place in the interests of these teachers 
and was more often a favorite study with the men than the 
women, but the women exceed the men in teaching preference. 

Geography occupies a relatively insignificant place in the first 
and second tables, but an unusually large number of men (24 per 
cent of the whole number) say they like best to teach it. 



8 

The sciences throughout occupy a relatively subordinate place 
and music and drawing, because of their recent introduction into 
the common school course of study, are mentioned in the second 
and third tables only. 

The same child study outline called for certain data concerning 
the children — nationality, physique, carriage of the body, intel- 
lectual capacities, emotional tendencies, will power, strength of 
memory, acuteness of reasoning, vividness of imagination, keen- 
ness of observation, school manners, morals and habits. The 
171 teachers sent returns from 4,128 children, 2,107 boys and 
2,021 girls. The data are given in the following tables and, 
excepting nationality, the returns are expressed in percentages : 

IV. NATIONALITY OF THE CHILDREN STUDIED. 

Parentage. Boys. Girls. Total. 

1. American 1,324 1,308 2,632 

2. French 313 283 596 

3. Irish 158 127 285 

4. English 41 39 80 

5. Swedish 39 9 48 

6. Russian 19 28 47 

7. German 3 12 15 

8. Italian 9 4 13 

9. other nationalities 15 18 33 

V. PHYSIQUE. 

Characteristic. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Strong and sturdy 86 76 

2. Weak and puny 11 10 

3. Deformed 8 3 

4. With defective vision 5 6 

5. With defective hearing 1 9 

With respect to physique, our boys and girls make a very 
satisfactory showing. More careful tests for defective vision 
and hearing would doubtless produce more alarming statements. 
While it is true that children in the rural districts are less myopic 
than in city districts, still it is probably true that there is much 
more myopia in our rural schools than these returns would indi- 
cate. More careful studies, with the Snellen test-types, should 
supplement this preliminary study. 

VI. CARRIAGE OF THE BODY. 

Manner. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Erect and graceful i 71 85 

2. Awkward and shambling 20 11 

The girls, it would seem, have better control of their bodies 
than the boys. It should be borne in mind, however, that the 



girl acquires poise and grace in bodily movements earlier than 
the boys. 

VII. INTELLECTUAL CAPACITIES. 

Grade. Boys — ■% Girls— % 

1. Strong, active and bright 73 54 

2. Slow and weak 16 12 

3. Very weak 2 1 

These returns would indicate that mediocre intellectual capac- 
ity falls most often to the lot of the girls, a much larger percent- 
^e of the boys being reported as of a strong vigorous type of 
intellect. 

VIII. EMOTIONAL TENDENCIES. 

Characteristics. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Well balanced and even 34 32 

2. Sensitive 21 25 

3. Impulsive 12 9 

4. Irritable and nervous 14 9 

5. Uneven and uncertain 10 11 

The fourth item in the above table does not agree with 
statistics in general. Girls are universally more irritable and 
nervous than boys and the various school neuroses, so much 
more common among girls than among boys, are important fac- 
tors in emotional disturbances. 

IX. WILL POWER. 

Characteristics. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Strong, resolute and controlled 78 74 

2. Weak 6 7 

The girls make a better showing in will power than is usually 
supposed and the weak-willed child does not appear as an 
important factor in these returns. 

X. INDIVIDUALITY AND CHARACTER. 

Traits. 

Good 



1. Concentration ...^Fair.. 
Poor . 

Good. 

Application \ Fair. . 

Poor . 
Good. 

3. Endurance ^Falr.. 

Poor . 

Good . 

4. Self-reliance { Fair.. 

Poor . 

Good. 

.5. Confidence ^Fair.. 

Poor . 

Good. 
6. Perseverance — \ Fair. . 

Poor . 

Good. 
Mu.scular Control — { Fair. . 

Poor . 



ys— % 


Ciirls — % 


8 


8 


21 


19 


7 


4 


11 


14 


14 


Ks 


7 


3 


8 


6 


18 


14 


'Z 


2 


14 


19 


17 


17 


6 


6 


12 


13 


24 


15 


4 


3 


13 


9 


15 


14 


6 


5 


15 


14 


13 


16 


4 


3 



lO 

These general qualities have value chiefly to the teacher in 
immediate charge of the child observed. Muscular control, for 
example, is one of the necessary qualities in will training and its 
absence suggests to the teacher the need of specific training. 

XI. STRENGTH OF MEMORY. 

Degrees. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Retentive and ready 60 59 

2. Verbal 15 12 

3. W^eak 10 8 

4. Very weak 3 2 

Numerous studies have been made on the memory of school 
children by Shaw, Hawkins. Kirkpatrick and others and with- 
out an exception the memory power of the girls surpassed that 
of the boys. More definite results might have been obtained by 
age tabulations. Generally the memory continues to increase 
in power until the thirteenth or fourteenth year. 

XII. ACUTENESS OF REASONING. 

Degrees. Boys — % Girls — % 

1. Strong 43 32 

2. Normal 38 26 

3. Weak 8 16 

4. Very weak 2 3 

These results agree in the main with studies made by Monroe,^ 
Barnes and Hancock on the reasoning power of school children. 
The reasoning power of the boy seems more acute and develops 
earlier than that of the girl. 

XIII. VIVIDNESS OF IMAGINATION. 

Degrees. Boys — % Girls— % 

1. Vivid 14 17 

2. Normal 27 38 

3. Weak : 20 11 

Here again the superior visualizing power of girls is in accord 
with studies before made on the vividness of imagination. 

XIV. OBSERVATION. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Number who see objects and their parts quickly, 20 24 

Number who contrast intelligently 13 15 

Number who compare intelligently 13 13 

Number who see beauty in an object 22 25 

Number who see beauty in a thought 11 13 

Number who see beauty in a sentence 11 14 

Number who see beauty in a picture 29 31 

Number who see the ideas in a picture 16 19 

Number who see the pictures in a poem 16 18 



II 

The perceptive power of the girls seems sHghtly superior to 
that of the boys and they seem more advanced than the boys 
in the development of the sesthetic sense. There is promise in 
the fact that so man}- of both sexes see beauty in a picture. 
Clearly the capacity to enjoy beauty is in the ascendency in our 
schools. 

XV. MANNERS. 

, Boys— % Girls — % 

Courteous 40 46 

Refined 18 26 

Gentle 23 32 

Reserved H 1^ 

Rude 13 5 

Clownish, rowdyish and foppish T 3 

The boys make a better showing than might have been 
expected when it is recalled that the graces of manners and 
deportment are more essentially instinctive and inherent in girls 
than with boys. 

XVI. MORALS AND HABITS. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Truthful 53 59 

Untruthful 9 8 

Trustworthy 35 40 

Dishonest 6 5 

"Obedient 48 63 

Disobedient • • • 6 4 

Vicious, malicious and depraved 3 1 

Punctual 40 42 

Attentive 36 40 

Inattentive 10 10 

Lazy 9 5 

Willful 8 6 

While the boys make a less satisfactory showing than the 
girls, the moral feelings of boys develop less rapidly than the 
same feelings among girls. So large a proportion of the 
teachers who made these observations were women, it seems not 
unlikely that the moral standards were essentially feminine, in 
which case the boys are placed at a disadvantage. 

XVII. MISCELLANEOUS. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Energetic • 24 27 

Timid fi 10 

Courageous 20 16 

Generous 24 26 

Selfish 10 11 

Hopeful 17 13 



12 



Boys — % Girls — % 

Despondent 8 3 

Peaceable 25 22 

Quarrelsome 9 5 

Easily discouraged 9 7 

Vain 3 4 

Intense in hatred 2 2 

Imitative 15 12 

Original 8 8 

Can make things with tools 13 8 

Like muscular exercise 29 21 

Much affected by what they term beautiful 8 14 

XVIII. MOTIVES THAT INFLUENCE. 

Honor 20 26 

Love 24 29 

Praise 26 26 

Rewards 19 21 

Desire to excel 24 26 

Fear 9 4 

XIX. HOW CONTROLLED. 

Muscle 11 5 

Will 18 19 

Emotions 12 13 

Self-control 13 19 

XX. ARTICULATION AND PRONUNCIATION. 

Pleasing 25 34 

Accurate 14 31 

Distinct 32 33 

Inaccurate 13 12 

Indistinct 11 7 

Mumbling 6 5 

Drawling 6 2 

XXI. LANGUAGE WRITTEN AND SPOKEN. 

Characteristic 11 H 

Felicitous 5 6 

Clear 21 25 

Concise 5 7 

Indefinite 4 4 

Incorrect 12 10 

XXII. PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS PURSUING VARIOUS STUDIES. 

Reading 90 90 

Spelling 81 80 

Writing 84 84 

Drawing 52 47 

Arithmetic 78 77 

Language 60 59 

Music 35 39 

Geography 51 49 

History 27 28 

Nature studies 42 43 



13 

It will be noted that reading and the language arts occupy the 
commanding places in the schools reported in these statistics. It 
is encouraging to note the attention given to drawing and music. 

XXIII. FAVORITE STUDIES. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Reading 27 30 

Spelling 12 13 

Writing 14 16 

Drawing 12 12 

Arithmetic 27 23 

Language 10 11 

Music 9 12 

Geography 12 12 

History 11 9 

These preferences, it will be noted, represent the reactions of 
the teachers rather than of the children. Still, it is important 
to know, what studies the teachers think the favorites with 
children. Professor Lefevre asked 37,000 French school 
children to write the studies they liked best and the studies they 
liked least (See Revue Pedagogique, Jan., 1900. Vol. 36, pp 
4-26). He found the preferences of the boys as follows: (i) 
History; (2) Arithmetic; (3) Drawing; (4) Reading; (5) 
Spelling; (6) Geography; (7) Writing; (8) Grammar; (9) 
Science. The preference of the girls were as follows : ( i ) 
History; (2) Arithmetic; (3) Reading; (4) Geography; (5) 
Spelling; (6) Drawing; (7) Writing; (8) Grammar; (9) 
Science. 

Miss Kate Stevens, the principal of a large school for girls in 
the city of London, asked English girls to state their favorite les- 
son, their hardest lesson and their easiest lesson. ( See Child Life, 
July, 1899, Vol. I, pp 160-162). She found that the favorite 
lessons, as stated by the girls themselves, were in the following 
order: (i) Reading; (2) Geography; (3) Arithmetic: (4) 
Writing; (5) Needlework; (6) Grammar; (7) Music; (8) 
Scriptures. 

XXIV. NO. WHO EXCEL IN DIFFERENT STUDIES. 

Boys — % Girls — % 



Reading 
Spelling 



18 24 

24 29 

Writing 1"^ -'^ 

Drawing i" ■' 

Arithmetic 21 20 

Language H 12 

Music ^ S 

Geography 12 H 

History 9 9 

Nature studies 6 6 



14 

Miss Stevens found that the lessons reported as easiest by- 
London school girls were as follows : (i) Reading; (2) Writ- 
ing; (3) Needlework; (4) Arithmetic; (5) Music; (6) 
Geography. 

XXV. NO. V^^HG ARE DEFICIENT IN DIFFERENT STUDIES. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Reading 18 15 

Spelling 18 14 

Writing 16 11 

Drawing 11 10 

Arithmetic 14 7 

Language 10 9 

Music 11 7 

Geography 8 7 

History 5 5 

Nature studies 4 5 

Professor Lefevre found that the school studies liked least by 
French children were as follows: (i) Arithmetic; (2) Geog- 
raphy; (3) Drawing; (4) History; (5) Grammar; (6) Spelling. 

Miss Stevens found that the most difficult studies for London 
girls, as reported by the girls themselves, were: (i) Geog- 
raphy; (2) Arithmetic; (3) Grammar; (4) Needlework; (5) 
Spelling: (6) Reading; (7) Writing; (8) Music. 

Dr. Ferdinand Kemsies, who tested Berlin school children 
with the ergometer, found that the most fatigue producing 
studies were as follows: (i) Gymnastics: (2 ) Arithmetic; (3) 
Foreign language ; (4) Scriptures; (5) Grammar; (6) Science; 
(7) Geography; (8) History; (9) Music; (10) Drawing, (See 
Kemsies' Arbeitshygiene der Schule auf Grund von Ermued- 
ungsmessungen. Berlin, 1898, pp 64). 

XXVI. NUMBER WHO READ OUTSIDE OP TEXT-BOOKS. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Excessively 5 7 

Largely 7 g 

Reasonable amount 23 26 

Little 10 12 

None , 14 n 

Professor Lefevre found that 62 per cent of the boys and 70 
per cent of the girls tested by him were regular readers of books 
other than text-books. 

Professor Bullock, who made observations on the use made 
by school children in Colorado of the public and school libraries 
at North Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs, found that in 



15 

Denver 92 per cent of the third grade children use the school 
library and none the public libraries. In the fourth grade, 5 
per cent use the public libraries and that percentage gradually 
increases to 60 per cent in the twelfth grade, while the percentage 
of those using the school library decreases to 12 per cent in the 
twelfth grade (See his paper on "Observations on children's 
readings" in the Proceedings of National Educational Associa- 
tion for 1897, pp. 1015-1021). 

XXVII. CHARACTER OP BOOKS READ. 

Boys— % Girls— % 

Standard 11 12 

Helpful 19 25 

Trashy and vicious 3 3 

Professor Bullock also reports that the number of trashy and 
vicious books read by Colorado children is comparatively small. 
He found that the standard and healthful books w'ere furnished 
( I ) by the school library and ( 2 ) by the public library and that 
the trashy and vicious books were supplied (i) by Sunday 
School libraries and (2) by home libraries. 

XXVIII. ATTITUDE TOWARD SCHOOL, AND 'WORK. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Attached 32 41 

Interested 47 55 

Indifferent 15 9 

Hostile 3 2 

XXIX. SCHOLARSHIP. 

Excellent '■ 19 2S 

Good 35 37 

Pair 19 18 

Poor 8 5 

Very poor 3 2 

It would be interesting to know the divers standards of schol- 
arship by which these children were tested. It is probable that 
their power to explain events by referring them to their causes, 
to discern the relations and qualities of objects and affirm these 
relations in facts, or to see in particular facts the general facts 
that the}^ include was not made the basis of these estimates. 
Measured by such standards — the ability to think — as Monroe. 
Hancock and Mrs. Barnes have shown — boys very generally 
surpass girls. 



i6 



On the other hand, the ability to retain and recall lessons, to 
remember facts and recite the same with readiness — the memory- 
power — as Shaw and Hawkins have shown — girls uniformly 
surpass boys. 

XXX. PARTICULAR TALENT. 

Boys — % Girls — % 

Special talent for some one thing- 14 14 

Special talent for no one thing 10 11 

Aptitude for several things 17 22 

XXXI. DOMINANT INTERESTS. 

Nature 19 20 

Books 13 14 

School work 13 12 

Outside work 5 4 

Recreation 9 6 

Only six of the teachers reporting mentioned the favorite books 
and songs of the children and but three the portions of arithmetic 
found most difficult and least difficult. These topics are impor- 
tant and it is to be regretted that sufficient data were not fur- 
nished for tabulation. The information furnished concerning 
the use made of memorial holidays was too meagre and indefinite 
for collation. 

On the whole, the returns suggest some interesting facts and, 
for comparative purposes, at least, they have unmistakable edu- 
cational value. They throw light also on certain defects which 
the teachers themselves must remedy. 

GENERAL COMMENTS AND QUERIES. 

The percentages, in some cases, may not be understood by 
persons who are not accustomed to these studies. It will be 
noticed that under certain general heads the aggregate of the 
percentages exceeds lOO, and that in others the sum is less than 
100. In certain instances the same pupil is included in more 
than one of the sub-titles and, in other cases, some pupils are not 
estimated under any of the sub-titles used. 

It is of interest to note that so many different nationalities are 
so largely represented in our State. Most people, who think of 
the matter at all, have the impression that our foreign population 
is limited to immigrants from two European nations. That we 
have so many Germans, Russians and Swedes shows that Maine 
and its resources are beginning to appeal to the people of several 
of the nations of Europe. 



17 

The physical conditions which so largely mold our people are 
responsible for the fine showing which the study reveals of the 
physiques of our boys and girls, but there seems to be no good 
reason for the boys leading the girls to the extent of lo per cent 
in this particular. 

The figures make clear the fact, already known to our educa- 
tors, that while we have trained the hands and heads of our 
children, we have not thought it necessary to give nurture to 
their emotions. The per cent, under this item, exhibits a condi- 
tion that calls for the thoughtful attention of teachers. We 
shall some day learn, what we already ought to know, that the 
feelings need culture quite as much as the intellect. 

The figures on application and self-reliance are not encourag- 
ing. They show that too much has been done for the child and 
that he has been required to do too little for and by himself. 

It is apparent that we do not furnish the child with reasonable 
opportunities to develop his memory and the result is that many 
of our children are deficient in this faculty. On the other hand 
quite as large a per cent of our pupils show ability to reason as 
should be expected. 

The returns in relation to the imagination furnish a severe 
criticism on the work of the common schools. This faculty is 
most active in childhood. It is a well known law of pedagogy 
that every power of the mind should receive its training during 
the time of its greatest natural activity. That we need to give 
careful study to this matter must be clear to any one who con- 
siders these figures thoughtfully. 

The record as to the manners of the children shows that there 
is ample opportunity for improvement and it is hoped that this 
testimony will result in greater attention to this subject. 

Under the head of morals, habits and virtues, the returns indi- 
cate that there is still much work for the teacher to do. It is 
clear that if she is to render the service most needed by the chil- 
dren she must be a though ful student and a sympathetic com- 
panion. 

Perhaps the most interesting item in this long list is the state- 
ment that, in the judgment of the teachers, J^ per cent of the 
boys and 54 per cent of the girls are possessed of more than 
average intellectual ability. Other parts of the record are clear 
upon the point that, in the matter of effort made and results 



i8 

achieved, the girls lead the boys in percentages too large to be 
pleasant reading. There must be some explanation for these 
figures. Are girls more faithful and industrious than boys, or 
have they a stronger sense of the necessity for being studious, 
or are they capable of doing more and better work during the 
childhood period, or are the boys indifferent because of 
associations and the unwholesome spirit existing in so many 
communities in relation to the value of the training given in 
school for those who are to engage in certain occupations ? 

These statistics bring the welcome assurance that art has an 
influential place in our schools. The talks given at teachers' 
meetings and the work done by the teachers in interpreting 
reproductions of master pieces have borne fruit beyond the 
fondest anticipations of those who have sought to interest our 
people in this great branch of study. It is doubted if any other 
record, equally encouraging, can be found in any other depart- 
ment of school work. 

It is gratifying to be assured that the work in Nature study 
has produced such marked results in developing the powers of 
observation of the children. 

There is reason for being hopeful for our boys and girls when 
so large a per cent of them are credited with being energetic. It 
is possible that if a larger number were interested in physical 
exercises the list would be still farther increased. 

It is to be regretted that nine per cent of the boys and four 
per cent of the girls have to be controlled by an appeal to their 
fears. 

Those who are interested in the future of these children would 
be glad if more than twenty per cent of the boys and twenty-five 
per cent of the girls excel in reading and were worthy of being 
ranked as clear in their use of English. 

Teachers and parents would do well to reduce, if possible, the 
large percentage of both boys and girls who are classed as indif- 
ferent in their attitude toward the school and school work. 

It must be surprising to most persons to learn that fourteen 
per cent of both boys and girls have special talent for some one 
thing and that nineteen per cent of the boys and twenty-two per 
cent of the girls show a talent for several lines of work or study. 

When each school is provided with a library, then we shall 
have more than thirteen per cent of the boys and fourteen ])er 
cent of the girls who exhibit a marked interest in books. 



19 

No one can study these figures without noticing that the girls 
lead the boys in desirable qualities and that the boys more largely 
rank the girls in particulars which reflect discredit upon school 
children. The almost unanimous testimony of teachers on these 
items makes pertinent the following queries : 

First : Do the figures fairly represent the facts ? 

Second : Are boys less interested in school work than girls 
because they are in so few instances taught by men? 

Third : Do women judge boys fairly? 

Fourth : Do boys develop more slowly than girls and are they 
less willing to work ? 

Fifth : Are our courses of study better adapted to the needs 
)f girls than to the necessities of boys ? 

Sixth : Are girls more industrious than boys because they 
are told so frequently they are not as brainy as boys? 

Seventh : Have athletics had anything to do with lessening 
the interest of boys in school work? 

Eighth : Is the instruction more attractive to girls than to 
boys? 

Ninth : Should not parents, school officials and teachers make 
a careful study of these figures for the purpose of determining 
what changes are needed in school administration, teaching 
force, subjects of study and methods of instruction? 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 339 666 3 ^ 



